“For the best return on your money, pour your purse into your head.” – Benjamin Franklin
Training, for you and your staff, can be one of the most important things you can do to keep your NDIS business healthy. Training helps to ensure you’re providing the very best service to your participants. There are also many other significant reasons why you should consider investing in training.
It’s required for audit
First and foremost, NDIS providers are required to ensure that their staff remain current and undertake the required training opportunities. As a NDIS provider, it’s your responsibility to have a system in place to identify, plan, facilitate, record and evaluate your training. This ensures that you remain compliant and that workers can meet the needs of your participants. You will need to demonstrate that you’re undertaking training as part of your audit.
It’s a great investment
You should consider training to be one of the best investments you can make in your business. If you complete any training or take part in ineffective training, you take the risk that your staff won’t perform at their best. A lack of training may mean that significant or expensive mistakes are made.
Buy ensuring your staff takes part in training opportunities, they will be able to diversify their skills. Having staff who with a solid and wide range of skills will help to broaden the options of your business and what you’re able to offer participants.
So while effective training ensures that you can provide a great service for your participants, it also means a more profitable business for you in the long run.
Adapting to change
One thing we’ve all learnt over the past year is how rapidly and unexpectedly the world can change around us. By keeping your skills and knowledge up to date, you’ll be able to pivot and weave more easily as any changes arise.
The better you understand your business and the skills that make it work successfully, the more able you will be to adapt to change as it occurs. This will also allow you to identify any gaps in knowledge, abilities or even the marketplace as changes occur.
Retaining your staff
Numerous studies show that by providing your staff with ongoing training they will be more likely to stay in their roles. Employees not only feel appreciated when they’re provided with learning opportunities, but they recognise the effort you put in to their professional development. This creates a bond of loyalty to the business.
We all know that staff turnover can be costly for a business. Ensuring that staff are engaged and good at their jobs is essential to maintaining a healthy bottom line. Having long-term staff also helps to reassure participants that they’re dealing with providers who are reliable and doing their best.
Optimise staff check-ins
Many employers are unsure of what sort of training they should be providing their staff. One of the simplest and most effective ways you can discover the answer is by simply asking them. Employers should regularly check in with their staff and part of these meetings could include discussions around what training they think they need to do their job better. You may be surprised to find out their answers. It can be a good way to identify gaps you may have in your business, and an unexpected bonus may be to improve and make your service more profitable.
How PROVIDERplus can help you
At PROVIDERplus, we recognise the importance of ongoing professional development, which is why we have teamed up with the best training partners. Our training partners offer our members discounted courses in areas that will benefit NDIS providers the most. This means that our members have discounted access to hundreds of accredited and unaccredited training programs.
This is just one way that PROVIDERplus supports and assists our members. Click here to find out more about becoming a PROVIDERplus member.
